Not much of this makes sense to me. I would have follow-up questions to try to understand what your father is actually defending below the comments on the surface - what he values and why what he thinks is in alignment with those values. With people who are pretty convinced they are right, I concluded that it is a waste of time to try to convince them otherwise. Instead, I try to gain understanding about what is important and why for that person - it gives me an opportunity to try to find something to connect with the person on somewhere.